PMPA joint action agency to supply TUNet® to its ten municipal utility members
Raleigh, NC – March 12, 2013 – Tantalus, a leading provider of Smart Grid communications, today announced that it has been selected by the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (PMPA), a joint action agency formed by ten municipal electric utilities in the northwest section of South Carolina, as its smart grid communications provider. Tantalus will provide load management tools and an AMI overlay which will allow this group of South Carolina utilities to remotely read existing Itron electric, water, and gas ERT meter deployments.
PMPA selected the Tantalus Utility Network (TUNet®) to extend a robust, two-way AMI network to selected members during an initial deployment phase. The second phase will include all of its member utilities, representing more than 100,000 endpoints. PMPA will procure and maintain the smart grid communication network and load control devices for its members. This will allow all members to immediately benefit from the availability of Tantalus smart meter modules, energy management applications, and two-way communications in order to better monitor their distribution systems, improve customer service, and cut operating costs. TUNet will also provide end-use consumers the ability to view their usage data over the Internet.
“Tantalus was the only smart grid communications provider that was able to overlay a comprehensive communications network allowing the use of two-way metering and load management devices without the need to replace every meter and with the ability to leverage existing deployed assets,” said Michael Frazier, Director of Engineering and Power Supply for PMPA. “A single TUNet AMI system head-end will be installed at and hosted by PMPA which will allow each of the ten member utilities to leverage the AMI system to their individual advantages for meter reading, system monitoring, and outage management. The flexibility and range of functionality within the TUNet AMI system played a pivotal role in our decision to choose Tantalus.”
In 2011, Tantalus partnered with Itron to offer a joint, overlay solution to utilities with existing Itron ERT modules and one-way AMR networks. The Itron-Tantalus joint solution provides a migration path to two-way AMI for municipal and cooperative utilities without requiring a comprehensive infrastructure upgrade. As a result, utilities can extend the value of their existing investments in AMR infrastructure while immediately adopting the benefits of real-time smart grid communications.
“South Carolina’s PMPA represents an innovative model for electric utilities that enables them to leverage economies of scale to adopt new technologies more effectively as a group,” said Eric Murray, President, and CEO of Tantalus. “Together with Itron, we’re proud to be able to help PMPA member utilities manage their resources cost-effectively while reaping the benefits of a faster, smarter grid.”
About Tantalus
Tantalus provides two-way, real-time data communications networks to monitor and control electric, gas and water utilities. TUNet® – the Tantalus Utility Network – is an end-to-end WAN/LAN/HAN communications system that operates with 220 MHz RF, 900 MHz, and IP-based networks including Fiber, WiMAX and GPRS/cellular, either individually or in combination. TUNet’s patented and patents pending technologies are purpose-built for the Smart Grid. The Tantalus network unites a utility’s applications, making advanced metering, outage management, power quality monitoring, load control, and distribution automation cost-effective and practical throughout both urban and rural service areas. For more information, please visit www.tantalus.com.
